Coffee Flavored Kisses
by Etcetera Kit
Summary: Dekaranger. Between coffee flavored kisses and laughter, Sen wonders if heaven is a morning spent in Umeko's arms.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own this sandbox. I just play here because it's fun.

**Author's Note**: Well, I noticed something about the Super Sentai fan fiction I've read here and other places—there's a distinct lack of canon couples writing. This might be that I'm unobservant or just have not found any that I'm enamored of, but the fact remains that my two favorite couples lack anything about them. Since most of my Sentai drabbles are Sen/Umeko or Hikaru/Urara… and this is the only thing finished… enjoy! Shorter than my normal long-winded style, but trying to capture a moment and the essence of a character. Reviews—the good, the bad and the ugly—are always appreciated.

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**COFFEE-FLAVORED KISSES**

By Etcetera Kit

There was an elusive _something_ about waking up to the sunrise, _her_ in his arms, wondering if this is what heaven was like…

Growing up, he'd been a naturally inquisitive child, asking questions that most people multiple times his age wouldn't think to ask. The response had grown constant. "_Stop asking silly questions."_ Or if he happened to be eating breakfast, "_Hurry up or you'll be late for school."_ He used to blame that lack of attention on the fact that he was one of the middle children in a family of eight siblings, but now he knew that his parents had been exhausted from keeping up with so many people. Huge family, little money—it wasn't a happy combination.

He had joined the Special Police right out of high school and tried to read up on subjects that interested him—religion, faith, heaven…

The golden sun painted the room in rich shades. The sky outside was streaked with pinks and oranges, promising a perfect day. The entire mood of a day hung on the morning sun. Gray, dark days usually meant bad tempers, stemming from an urge to keep sleeping. But mornings like this, golden and warm, were meant to be celebrated.

This entire relationship baffled Sen—it had from day one. Their relationship was harder to see, and harder to understand than others. For example, Hoji and Jasmine's not-so covert relationship made perfect sense—Hoji's emotions were stable and, for the most part, on the surface, making it easier for Jasmine, an ESPer, to feel comfortable around him. He was a rock in regards to his emotions and Jasmine needed someone like that.

So why didn't their relationship make sense like that?

For him, she was almost like a drug. Umeko, cheerful, petite—she had a huge heart, but was hurt just as easily as she was overjoyed. She was just Umeko in his presence. He'd refrained from using nicknames or terms of endearment, remembering all too well the experience with the alien who deceived her. Part of him felt grateful to that alien, otherwise, they wouldn't be together. She'd still be chasing men outside the Special Police, and he'd remain as her eccentric teammate, nothing more.

But that first night… those fiery kisses…

They had gone on patrol that afternoon, spending the afternoon stealing kisses and pretending to watch for suspicious activity. The fact remained, Agent Abrera could have launched an entire army of mecha-humans on the city and neither of them would have realized it. He had been intoxicated by the feel of her soft lips and tasted sunlight, mint and coffee on those kisses. Holding each other had been awkward in the patrol car… and he remembered her whispered words.

"_It's all right. I won't break."_

She had smiled up at him, kiss-swollen lips… and she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

And he couldn't get enough.

They were supposed to do paperwork that evening, catching up on the rush of things that happened during the holidays. Umeko sat next to him in the DekaRoom, rubbing his leg with her foot every so often. A sly smile and she claimed exhaustion, practically skipping towards her quarters. He was amazed that no one had commented on their disheveled appearance after returning from patrol, especially since the shift had been quiet. Mussed hair, uniforms askew, flushed cheeks… maybe everyone knew and no one said anything.

A few moments later, he asked to be excused on the grounds of a headache. He had every intention of returning to his quarters and gathering his thoughts before calling Umeko via cell phones. Their SP Licenses were monitored, so private personal calls had to be made via alternate methods. And he would have gathered his thoughts…

Had she not been in his room, sitting on his bed.

"_You really need to start locking your door."_

He did lock the door behind him.

The night became a blur of passion—kisses, heat… His lips sought hers, and she pulled them down onto the bed. Her fingers tugged down the zipper of his uniform jacket and he shrugged the garment off. He kissed each expanse of her smooth skin as it was revealed. He wanted this to last. He wanted this to be perfect.

"_I want to make love to you."_

"_Then do it."_

How to explain that he had no experience in this arena?

But that didn't matter ultimately. She showed him, told him what she wanted that first night. Things became a rhythm and they became more adventurous, but, in the faint afterglow, he remembered feeling content, sated, and at peace, for the first time in his life.

The rising sun lit her hair, wonderfully mussed from their lovemaking and sleep. Her head remained nestled under his chin, one hand curled over his heart. Her bare skin warm against his…

What had he done to deserve her? He didn't know, and was not sure that he'd ever know. But perhaps this was the first time a man let her come to him. Umeko had actively pursued so many others. Maybe it was the fact that he had always been there. Maybe it was because he took her melodramatic tendencies in stride. But here she was, in his arms, with the sun rising…

"Sen-chan," she murmured against his chest.

"Hmmm?"

She lifted herself off his chest, the sheet falling away. Her hair spilled over her shoulders, framed by the sun… he shivered.

"Coffee, first," she whispered against his lips. "Then… a bath?"

He smiled. "Or both… at the same time."

Bits of a conversation held after they had been officially dating a few weeks floated back to him as he raised one hand, gently tracing the contours of her face. She leaned into his touch, a soft smile spreading over her face. Her eyes fluttered closed.

"_I don't understand why some girl didn't snap you up a long time ago."_

"_Perhaps no one took the time to really see. They look, but don't see."_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_For what?"_

"_For ignoring you—just writing you off as an oddball."_

And, despite it all, perhaps they were truly allowed to be themselves in one another's presences. He didn't have to keep his rambling thought process to himself, or hide the fact that stressful situations made him physically exhausted. (He had read a book once that said infants fell asleep, if their distress wasn't tended to. Perhaps he hadn't been comforted as an infant.) Umeko normally let her dramatic flare come forward, but he was allowed to see the caring, intelligent woman beneath the active, cute girl that she displayed for everyone else. She was calm, relaxed and almost sage-like when they were alone.

The sun rose completely, making the room warm and bright.

Laughter in the bathtub, coffee-flavored kisses before the morning patrol…

Heaven had to be like this, where there was no alienizers, no Special Police… nothing except her soft body, and sugar-sweet lips, nothing except them and their love, shining on the early morning sun. Heaven had to be that perfect moment when all that mattered was that she kept looking at him with passion-glazed eyes. Heaven was… that ineffable, soaring feeling as he stood at the edge of a cliff, knowing that he could fly and she would be at his side.

The End—11-12 October 2006


End file.
